The Old Testament Preaches the Gospel

The Old Testament Preaches the Gospel

When we think about the Gospel, many of us instinctively turn to the New Testament. After all, that’s where we find the accounts of Jesus’ life, His teachings, the letters of Paul, and the growth of the early church. But here’s something worth pondering: when Jesus, Paul, and the apostles preached the Gospel, they didn’t have the New Testament! It didn’t exist yet. Everything they preached, everything they taught, came from the Old Testament. The Old Testament teaches the Gospel!

For too long I overlooked the Old Testament. It can be hard to understand, but preachers must encourage us to engage with it. The amazing truth is that long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Old Testament proclaimed the Gospel—the good news of God’s rescue plan for humanity.Let’s discover how the Old Testament not only lays the foundation for the Gospel but actively preaches it.

Jesus and the Old Testament

Let’s start with Jesus. What a lot of people don’t realise is that He didn’t introduce a new message when he began his public ministry. Instead, He expanded on the truths already revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). In Luke 24:27, after His resurrection, we read: 

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” 

Jesus wasn’t starting a new story; He was fulfilling a very old one.

The Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, points to Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus Himself says, 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”

The key point here is that we shouldn’t view the Gospel as something separate from the Old Testament. It’s the same story, a continuation and completion of the promises made by God to His people. The good news of Jesus arises entirely from the Old Testament story of God’s faithfulness to Israel and His plan to rescue not only Israel but the entire world.

Paul’s Preaching Came from the Old Testament

We often think of the apostle Paul as a New Testament figure, and rightly so. But when Paul preached, he didn’t have the benefit of quoting from the New Testament, he was yet to write his part. His Gospel message came entirely from the Old Testament story. Paul’s letters overflow with references to the Hebrew Scriptures, which he used to explain and prove the message of Jesus as the Messiah.

Take, for example, Romans 1:16-17, where Paul writes, 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” 

This last line, “The righteous will live by faith,” is a direct quote from Habakkuk 2:4, a prophet of the Old Testament.

Paul wasn’t inventing a new religion. He declared the fulfillment of promises made in the Scriptures all along. The Gospel he preached relied deeply on the Old Testament, which he used to show that Jesus is the long-awaited Messianic King who completed Israel’s mission to bring God’s salvation to all nations.

The Gospel Belongs to Israel’s Promises

The Old Testament is a story, a history full of promises that point to God’s rescue plan for His people. Although God made those promises to Israel, He always intended them to reach all nations.The Gospel message isn’t just about personal salvation; it’s about God’s plan to restore all creation, starting with Israel and extending to every corner of the globe.

In Genesis 12:3, God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising him, 

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 

This is the first glimpse of the Gospel—the good news that God’s blessing, His salvation, would reach beyond Israel to every nation. The story of the Old Testament is the story of God working through Israel to bring His rescue plan to the entire world.

Throughout the Old Testament, we see this theme repeated. The Psalms and the Prophets speak of a time when God’s reign will extend over all nations, when His salvation will reach the ends of the earth. Isaiah 49:6 declares, 

“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

This is the Gospel—God promises to rescue Israel and invites all the nations to join in. It’s not a last-minute addition or afterthought; it was God’s plan from the beginning.

Habakkuk Preaches the Gospel

Let’s return to the prophet Habakkuk for a moment. In Habakkuk 2:4, the prophet writes, 

“The righteous will live by faith.” 

This verse becomes a cornerstone of Paul’s teaching in Romans and Galatians, where he explains that righteousness comes by faith, not by works of the law. But Habakkuk wasn’t just talking about Israel; he was pointing to a future where righteousness and salvation would be available to all who live by faith in God’s promises.

Habakkuk’s message was one of hope in the midst of despair. He saw the impending judgment on Israel and questioned why God was allowing such suffering. God’s answer was that His plan was bigger than Habakkuk could see. The righteous—the ones who trust in God’s plan, even when they don’t understand it, will live by that trust, not just as a lifestyle but as the guarantee of a place in God’s new creation. This is the message at the heart of the Gospel.

The Old Testament Foreshadows Jesus

The Old Testament is full of types and shadows that point to Jesus. The Passover lamb in Exodus foreshadows Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and the sacrificial system in Leviticus points to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Long before the New Testament, the Old proclaimed the Gospel.

Jesus fulfills every promise God made to Israel. He is the true and better Adam, the faithful Israelite, the suffering servant, and the conquering King. The Gospel does not originate in the New Testament; it culminates God’s plan, which begins in Genesis and runs throughout the entire Old Testament.

The Old Testament Preaches the Gospel

So, the next time you open your Bible and turn to the Old Testament, don’t think of it as a separate or outdated section of Scripture. It’s not just a prelude to the New Testament; it is the Gospel. It’s the story of God’s promise to rescue His people, a story that finds its fulfilment in Jesus the Messiah.

The Old Testament reveals the Gospel, and everything Jesus, Paul, and the apostles taught was from these ancient Scriptures. God promises to rescue Israel through the Gospel, extending that rescue to all nations, including you and me.

Let’s suppose we’re to truly understand the Gospel. In that case, we must see it in its full context: the grand story of God’s faithfulness to His people, beginning with Abraham, running through the prophets, and culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

Now that’s good news! Go well my friend. 😃

Discover our shared calling now that we are followers of the Messiah.

PPS. Here’s a great video by Bible Project that takes this further.